THE AUTOCAR B Sournal publ1sheb in tbe intere-sts of tbe mecbRntcall~ propelleb roab carriage.

EDITED BY H. WALTER STANE"l.

~ o. 7r5. VoL. XXIII.] SATURDAY, J ULY 3RD, r909.

[PRICE 3D.

The Autocar.

(Published Weekly.)

Registered as a Newspaper for t ransmission in the United Kint;dom. Entered as second-class matter in the New York (N.V.) Post Gffice.

Three Editions every Friday .

The TH_REEPENNY EDITION, printed on Art Paper. T tiA PENNY EDITION, printed upon thinner paper. The FOREIGN EDITION, price 3d.1 printed on thin paper fo r t ran~missic,n abroad.

Editorial Office :

COVENTRY.

Publishing Offices :

20, TUDOR STREET, LONDON, E.C., England

CONTENTS. NorES' . . USEFUL HINTS AND TIPS . • THE SAL TB UR~ SPt:ED TRIALS (lLLUSTRAl'h:U) .. • •

.

SCOTTISH RELIABILITY TRIAL-THE CourE DES VorrURElll!~ BODY DESIGN • AND CON;TRUCTION ([LLUSTRATEU) ON THE ROAD • • A KooTENAY SPARE,(lLLUSTRATED) R rvtNGTON PIKE HILL CUMH (ILLUSTRATED) • • • • . • . . THE "NfW. 1-2 -!4 'H"".P". A1:'1D r~2.9 H.P. CROSSLE\' CHASSIS (lLLUS.) AERONAUTICS FROM "THE AERO" . . • • • • • • • • ROYAL AUTOJ.tOBJLE AND AS.;;OCI ATEU CLUBS. \.VARWJCKSHIRE

MEETING • •

. . . • • . • •

.,

Two EARLY LANCHESTER CAR5 (ILLU3TRATED) THE ScoTT1~H TRIAL A MOTOR-DRIVEN TORPEDO MOTOR UNION NOTES T HE NEW HIGH T ENSION MAGNETO ( lLLU.HRATF. o) .. AuTOMOBILISM JN AMERICA CORRESPONDENCE .. THE AUTOMOBILE AssOCIATIO:-l-~-TH E N1.nv cy9 AKROL•JOU NSTON SMALL CART ALK FLASHES CLUB DOINGS

\GE

1-2

3 1-6

6 7 H -~1

9 JO- I r

15 16 17 18 19 20- 2 r 21-22 27·3•

33 34 35-36 37·: H

Subscrip tion R ates :

British Isles-Home Edition, 16s. ; penny (thin paptr edition), 6s. 6d.

Abro:1d {tom paper edition), 22s. 8d. per ::-.nnum.

Index to Advertisements appears on page 40.

Notes. New Fuels and Rumours of New Fuels. From indications which are unmistakable it appear:, evident that _ there will be a number of petrol substitutes offered to the public before long. It should be clearly understood that our attitude towards all who a.re striving to proch.: ::e satisfactory substitutes for petrol is one of extreme sympathy and interest, but we must at the same time warn our readers against investing capital in any new fuel companies which may be promoted unless they are assured that the fuel has a reasonable chance of success. It does not necessarily follow that promoters of companies for the manufacture and general exploiting of a new fuel are dishonest. It is quite as likely that they are merely iinor:rnt. From wh,1t has beer~ sa id in the past r1urin.~

the cl i, -::1 1ssions on alcohol and other home-made fuels it is evident that extreme ignorance prevails, particularly as to the coal tar products, and it is quite easy for company promoters to be dereived by specious chemists , and then in their turn to clecei\'e the invest- ing public.

. If a ll we hear be true there is a strong probabi I ity ot at least one ne11· fuel being introduced in the ne:ir future, which wi II in deed and in truth prove a worthv successor_ to petrol. It will do all that petrol d :., s, a ,?d do rt better and more cheaply, but probably it will not be the only new or a lleged new fuel 11·hich will be introduced, and we therefore warn our readers to be exceedingly careful and to accept no interested statements. They may re ly that we shall not pronounce favourably on any substitute for petrol till we have satisfied ourselves that we are justified in doing so, and we shall ce1iainlv not condemn a fuel Lecause we know nothing about ·it. New fuels are likelv to be brought out hastily and a considerable amount ·of pub)icity _given th_em ~efore it is po sible to properly mvest1gate their claims, and in such cases we can on!" regard their claims as not prov-ed, but until we hav~ proved them we shall not speak fa\·ourably or unfavourably o~ these_ new introclu,ctions. . From a company p:romotmg pomt of view there is a belief that -the time is ripe for the floating of fuel concerns, and we are not at all sure that this belief is not justified. This very reason make. it a ll the more imperative that investors -=hould atisfy themselves that the claims are reallv well grounded. ·

As an instance of the kind of thing which is going on, we may mention a recent experience in ,\·hich we were a. ked to participate in a :trial of a new fuel. We wer•e given no opportunity of examining the tanks or the fuel fittings on the car, but were driven a certain distance on petrol, when the tank was emptied (or suppo ed to be emptied) and the new fue l put in to replace it. Another measured distance was covered, and the second dose of fuel drove the car \·ery considerably further than the first. For reasons into which we need not enter we were ·not satisfied, and we arranged with the persons interested in the new fuel to hold a brake horse-power test. This is some little time ago, but up to now we have heard no more of the brake test, of the new fuel, or of the people who endeavoured to persuade us to report favourably upon the demonstration drive we made. This is by no means the only experience of the sort we have had, but we mention it a illustrative of the fact that the tendency is unquestionably to make extravagant claims and to fail utterly to prove them.

It may be asked why there should be any need for a company with fairly large capital to exploit a substitute for petrol, hecause if it is good it will sell itself. This is perfectly true, but it must be borne in mind that whatever the substitute be, it will require a considerable organisation and a more or less costly system of distribution throughout the country, as nothing can seriouslv rnmpete with petrol unless it be as easily and